In our last article, we have seen the importance of a good lower ab workout, what benefit it has for your back and your health, and also how it can help you to get a flatter stomach. We also explained reverse crunches, the best lower ab workout for beginners. Abs machines can you help to exercise your lower abs and can make your workout more effective, so today we will look at the best abs machines for your lower ab workout and what exercises to do.

Using an abs bench for lower ab workout: doing inclined reverse crunches

Initial position: lie on your back on an declined abs bench, using your arms to stabilize your body, with your feets raised and your knees bent.

Exercise: now bring up your knees towards your chest, trying to raise your pelvis off the board. Hold for a second and lower your knees back to the initial position. Make sure not to lower your legs to far as this might cause you to overstretch your back and hurt your back.

The higher the angle of the incline, the more challenging the exercise is for your abs.

Decline leg raises with an abs bench

This is an advanced exercise. It works your abs a lot but it also really puts a lot of strain on your lower back. Personally, I would rather jump to the hanging knee raises and skip this exercise.

The exercise is the as the decline reverse crunch, but instead of having your knees bent, you have your legs straight at all times. You lift your legs up as far as possible, curling your torso towards your chest and then lower them again. Don’t lower your legs too far down as this will only increase the stress on your lower back.

Using ab balls for lower ab workout: knee tucks on stability ball

Initial position: you have your shins on an abs ball and are in push-up position (i.e. face down, rested on your arms and on your shins which are on the stability ball).

Exercise: use your abs to roll the ball closer to your hands. To do this, bring your legs towards your body, bending the knees and sticking your buttocks into the air.

By the way: you can also do the reverse crunches on the abs ball. On the abs ball you will obtain a greater stretch of the abdominals, so the exercise will be more effective. Lie on the ab ball, face up. Use your arms to stabilize your body and then lift and lower your legs.

Using ab straps for your lower ab workout

As we have seen in the article on ab straps, doing hanging knee raises and hanging leg raises are two great exercises to train your lower abs. Find the detailed description of the exercise here.

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Using ab balls as ab exercise equipment has several advantages:

• When doing a crunch on an ab ball your back stretches backward. In comparison with the standard crunch where you lie on the floor, on an abs ball you train your abdominals in a much wider range of motion  and it has been scientifically proven that this trains your abdominals more.
• You need to permanently maintain your balance on the ab ball. That means that you train a wide variety of muscles at the same time and your lower back and abdominals have to work harder to maintain stability while at the same time doing the crunch.
• You gain increased balance, stability and coordination.
• Many people find the workout on the stability ball more comfortable than the standard crunch on the floor.
• Keep in mind that one of the main functions of your abdominals is not only to flex your torso, but to actually give stability to your torso, balancing your body and protecting your spine from injury. It is clear that a workout on the ab ball where you permanently need to adjust your balance is the perfect exercise for this objective and will give you true core strength.
• With an abs ball you can train all your abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis, obliques and transverse abdominis).

How to train your abs on an ab ball:

• When you start off exercising on an ball, make sure that you hold onto a wall in order to maintain the balance.
• Sit on the abs ball, then move your feet forward while leaning backwards, until you reach the initial position in which you lie face upwards on the ball, your back stretched backwards over the ball.
• Place your fingers behind your head.
• Now do the crunch movement, flexing your torso approaching your rips towards your thighs.
• There is no need to do a complete sit-up (the last part of the movement only trains your hip flexors and not your abdominals), it’s enough to get up to a position where your body is angled about 30º .
• Now slowly lower your weight again until your back is again stretched over the exercise ball.

Watch out, unlike other abs machines, the ab ball does not provide any support for your neck so you need to stabilize it yourself. Many persons make the error of locking both hands behind their head and then pulling their head upwards, straining your neck. In order to avoid that, the best trick is not to lock the fingers of your hands. Place your fingers on each side of your head so that they just touch. When doing the exercise focus on maintaining the head in line with your spine, don’t tilt it forward.

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We recommend you to first analyze whether you really want to buy an abs machine or whether maybe you prefer an abs workout program combined with a diet for burning belly fat. Many internet sites offer such programs or you can hire a personal trainer.

Not all abdominal machines really deliver what they promise, so before taking a decision on which product you want to buy, first consider these recommendations: 

1. Check out a variety of different models and look which ones fit best your objectives and your general physical condition. You can get a personal trainer to recommend you or you can check out the reviews on different websites. Very soon you will also find product reviews on this site. 
2. The abs machine should be adaptable to your height and weight. 
3. In order to avoid any injuries, you need to make sure that the abdominal machine is not going to stress your back. This is especially important if you suffer from any kind of back problem, in this case you should consult your health provider for recommendations. 
4. The abs machine should target all abdominal muscles (Upper ab and lower ab workout, abdominal oblique and transverses abdominis). 
5. The abdominal machine should be comfortable to use and not cause any discomfort or cramping. 
6. Check also whether it gives support to your neck. 
7. You also need to check whether you actually have enough space at home for your new abs exercise equipment.

Keep in mind that contrary to what most people think, the most expensive abs machine   is not necessarily the best. Unless you’re a hard-core bodybuilder, you should be able to find a suitable abs machine for around 100 US$ or less, so don’t spend too much!

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